Spain deploys 500 more troops to battle blazes

European countries have joined fight to contain fires blamed on parched woodland.

- By Barry Hatton

LALO R. VILLAR Associated Press FIREFIGHTERS on the move in northwestern Spain. The high was expected to reach 113 degrees on Sunday.

Spain is deploying 500 more soldiers to battle wildfires that have torn through parched woodland during a prolonged spell of scorching weather, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Sunday.

The decision to add to the more than 1,400 troops already on wildfire duty came as authorities struggled to contain forest blazes, especially in the northwestern Galicia region, and awaited the arrival of promised aircraft reinforcements from other European countries.

Firefighters are tackling 12 major wildfires in Galicia, all of them near the city of Ourense, the head of the Galician regional government, Alfonso Rueda, said at a news conference with Sánchez.

“Homes are still under threat, so we have lockdowns in place and are carrying out evacuations,” Rueda said. Galicia has been battling the spreading flames for more than a week.

Temperatures in Spain were expected to reach 113 degrees in some areas Sunday, the Spanish national weather agency AEMET said. The high in the southern city of Cordoba a day earlier was 113.